this may be the only time nfl referees receive a standing ovation from the fans, but do not fear. this love fest did not last long. good morning and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm eun yang. >> sometimes you just can't win. that's one of those jobs. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. a nasty night turned into a nasty morning for a lot of folks. a live look over the nation's capital as some of us are dealing with rain and certainly wet roadways. storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson here with a look at the forecast. as the rain comes to an end, we start to see the fog and the visibility start to drop. a look at the visibilities throughout the area, especially the locations that had the real heavy rain last night. manassas down to a half mile visibility. culpeper, virginia, at a third. stanton at zero mile visibility. it could drop a bit more too around leesburg, winchester, and martinsburg at .3 mile visibility. the rain is moving out. quiet conditions everywhere from

baltimore down to annapolis and diehl. that's all headed toward eastern maryland right now. temperatures also mild. 67 in college park. rockville at 63. fort belvoir you're coming in at 64 degrees. luray 61. that is one of our cool spots off to the west. here's a look at the forecast hour by hour. 8:00 a.m., i think the fog will be lifting. we'll have some breaks, more in the cloud cover with a mixture of clouds and sun today. 77 degrees by around noontime. 81 degrees our high temperature for today with a few showers returning and even thunderstorms by 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, maybe even 7:00 or so. right now first 4 traffic. >> thanks, veronica. still check on the situation on the outer loop of the beltway. here's what's happening. taking the outer loop toward connecticut avenue, the crash is reportedly now in the shoulder lane. i need to show you some delays because they're really growing right now. making your way towards georgia avenue, you are heavy on the brakes, sluggish.

also at colesville road, starting to come to a complete stop as well. stop and go, under speed as you make your way towards connecticut avenue. again, reportedly that accident is in the shoulder lane. i'm not sure if this has to do with rubber necking delays. i can tell you, if you're taking the outer loop of the beltway and about to head out of the house, prepare for delays. aaron and eun, back over to you. 6:02. president obama is ed leading i some of the states that could decide this year's election. he leads mitt romney in new hampshire. that's according to the latest nbc news/marist poll. he also has a 2% lead in nevada and north carolina. that's within the poll's margin of error, which is 3.1%. president obama and mitt romney expected to call benjamin netanyahu today, who is in the united states right now. the president has been criticized for not meeting with the israeli prime minister. yesterday secretary of state hillary clinton sat down with him, though, in new york.

mitt romney will focus on fund-raising tonight. he hopes to bring in $7.5 million for his campaign at two events in the boston area. romney spent yesterday campaigning in northern virginia. he met with veterans and their families in springfield. romney trails the president in virginia in recent polls. he hopes next week's first presidential debate will give him some momentum going forward. >> you don't have a great opportunity with debates to talk about my vision, vision for the country. the president will talk about his. those who believe we want bigger government, more intrusive government, trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see will vote for him. those who believe we should encourage economic growth, support small business, and create more jobs will vote for me. >> that first debate will take place wednesday night in denver. president obama will stay here in the district today. he has three campaign events scheduled in d.c. the president also campaigned yesterday in virginia. he was 200 miles from romney in virginia beach.

the nfl referees are back on the job. the regular refs received a standing ovation when we took the field before last night's ravens-bengals game in baltimore. the honeymoon was short-lived, as you might imagine. the crowd quickly booed when the hometown ravens were called for an unsportsmanlike penalty. this was the first game since the nfl and players union reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract. nfl commissioner roger goodell apologized to fans for the lockout. >> we're sorry to bring our fans through that, sorry to bring the general public through that. that's, unfortunately, part of labor management disputes. >> the referees union plans to vote today or tomorrow on the labor deal. >> a texas man faces up to five years in prison after admitting he tried to extort money from redskins quarterback robert griffin iii. richard hurd contacted one of rg3's agents earlier this year,

saying he had information that would damage the qb's reputation. hurd, who played basketball at baylor, demanded $1 million in exchange for his silence. griffin's agents contacted the police, who arrested hurd. he pled guilty to extortion charges and will be released in november. authorities working to find a suspect in a murder case who might have come to our area. investigators believe 42-year-old anthony taglianetti of woodbridge killed a school superintendent outside buffalo last week. they say he drove to new york to kill him and is now believed to be back in the virginia area. police say the two men knew each other, but they wouldn't release a possible motive for the attack. you see tag lianetti's picture here. he is considered armed and dangerous. the wife of a man attacked near eastern market is speaking out. thomas maslin was beaten and robbed of his iphone and cash. the men then robbed three other people later that night. the police caught and arrested

them for those robberies. police found four phones when they arrested the trio. one of the phones belonged to maslin, but only a few days ago did police connect him to the attack. >> i'm just grateful for the hard work of the police department and the detectives. they're incredible, and they don't get a lot of credit. i really want to recognize everything that they've done to bring justice to our case. >> police say they tried to track maslin's phone after the attack, but the battery was dead and the sim card removed. he's still in the hospital recovering from brain injuries. starting tonight, crews will be working on track improvements on 4 of the 5 metro lines. buses will replace trains on the green line from southern avenue to branch avenue. the same goes on the orange line from the vienna through the east falls church stations. trains will be single track on the red line and yellow line as well. all of this work expected to wrap up in time for the monday morning commute. 6:06 is your time. 65 degrees. a paper weight causes a security

scare at jfk airport. when you see it, you'll understand why. plus it's been a wet night.

so it looks like torres might have to pay next year to throw tomatoes at each other at spain's festival. the town wants to impose a fee of about five eruros, or $7, to decrease attendance and improve safety. a decision will be made in november. >> i think it's worth the $7 to be able to throw tomatoes at anybody you want. full on straight. >> i'd pay for that. >> yeah.

>> 11 minutes after 6:00. veronica johnson is laughing at something. >> i wonder what that could be, aaron. >> i saw you, aaron. i have my eye on you. we're talking about a little bit of fog out there. i've got my eye on the radar. i've got my eye on visibilities from fauquier county west and also spotsylvania around fredericksburg, dense fog advisory this morning. the high today 81. look at the storms. they'll come back around 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 today. it could last as long as 7:00 across southern maryland. but a nice weekend there. danella? working on an accident on the outer loop of the beltway. reportedly on connecticut avenue, that accident is on the shoulder. i'm still seeing significant delays. here's a live look as you make your way past university boulevard. heavy on the brakes. solid delays for connecticut avenue. still going to keep calling and making sure nothing new has happened. let's talk about traffic lights

m malfunctioning. this is in woodbridge. and you're heavy on the brakes northbound. in dale city, delays continue as you make your way past lorton. heavy on the brakes in this area. checking on 95, not seeing accidents as you make your way northbound in virginia or southbound, accident free, but volume northbound. eun and aaron, back over to you. 6:12 is the time. ahead, the airline being sued over a drimpg. also setting a really bad example. the kids who caught their school bus driver red handed. [ male announcer ] for the dreamers...

and those well grounded. for what's around this corner... and the next. there's cash flow options from pnc. solutions to help businesses like yours accelerate receivables, manage payments, and help ensure access to credit. because we know how important cash flow is to reaching your goals. pnc bank. for the achiever in you. e. pnc bank. the middle class, who move our country forward. work hard. raise families. and keep america strong. but mitt romney's budget plan will hurt the middle class. raising taxes on the average family by up to $2000 dollars. while giving a tax break of $250,000 dollars to multi-millionaires.

doesn't mitt romney understand, we can't rebuild america...by tearing down the middle class. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. i'm melissa mollet at the live desk with breaking news. investigators now know what caused a plane to go down in nepal today, a vulture. 19 people were killed after carrying trekkers to the mt. everest plane hit the bird and crashed just after takeoff. the pilot reported trouble two minutes after takeoff and

appeared to be trying to turn back. that crash that you see there is only 500 yards from the airport. at the live desk, melissa mollet, news 4. >> melissa, thank you. today federal authorities will take soil sam l 's at an eastern michigan home in an attempt to find jimmy hoffa. a man told officials he saw a man burying a body in the backyard in 1975 on the same day hoffa was last seen. the rumor hoffa's body has finally been found has drawn visitors, including a man who says it has to be hoffa because his sister is a psychic. today minneapolis police will try to figure out what sparked a deadly shooting inside a sign making business. investigators say a man went inside the store yesterday afternoon, killed four people, and injured four others before killing himself. police don't know if the man worked for the business, and they're looking for a motive behind the shooting. 3 of the 4 injured are in

critical condition. later today in aurora, colorado, files involving the theater shooting suspect james holmes will be released. it will provide new insight into the deadly theater shooting two months ago. holmes is accused of killing 16 and injuring 58 more. a deadly crime in a high end store is caught on surveillance video. several masked men burst into a saks fifth avenue with sledgehammers. smashed jewelry cases, grabbed jewels, and head out. the employees hid into the police came. a man behind the making of an islamic video that inflamed parts of the middle east will remain behind bars. a judge ordered him to remain in custody until a hearing that determines whether he violated the terms of his probation from a 2010 check fraud conviction. violence erupted in the middle east around a 14-minute trailer

on youtube around the film "innocence of muslims." actresses and actors on that film say they were duped. they say they were hired for a film about ancient egyptians. and a scare at kennedy airport when a customs agent spotted what appeared to be a grenade in the luggage. it turned out to be a paper weight. the man from moscow told police it was a gift from a friend. it's not clear how the paperweight got through security in moscow. we now know the passenger who caused a tirade on a united airlines flight not only faces charges, but he's also from virginia. >> please help me! please help me! i can't breathe! >> cell phone video shows a man screaming on a flight from chicago to california on tuesday night. they identified him at 26-year-old arash durani, aed model and actor. his online profile shows he's from alexandria. in addition to his rant, he harassed women and made threats.

other passengers used their belts to hold him down until the plane landed. a woman is suing southwest airlines after she spilled a cup of hot tea on herself. the woman suffered second degree burns op the flight from nashville to houston last year. she claims she had to sit in the hot water because she was wearing her seat belt and could not get up quickly. her lawsuit alleges the flight attendant who served her made no effort to help. and also alleges the plane should have had a tray table at her front row seat. imagine seeing your kid's school bus driver doing that. a woman is off the job after students caught her texting behind the wheel. this is the cell phone video the kids shot. the school has fired her. parents are worried she may get a job driving the bus somewhere else. and a bus driver is off the job after bringing marijuana laced brownies to work. other workers ate the brownies not knowing it had drugs in them. the drivers pulled over and started calling replacement drugs when they were feeling the

effects of the drugs. the worker who brought in the brownies said he did not know they were laced with pot, but transit officials fired him anyway. and nationals fans will not be stranded at the navy yard during the team's playoff run. metro announced it will extend hours for all postseason home games. d.c.-based living social will foot the bill for that. metro requires a $29,000 deposit to keep the station open past midnight. the nationals refused to pay the bill even though other sports teams in town do pay that bill. the nationals magic number down to three. they powered past the phillies 7-3 last night in philadelphia. gio gonzalez picked up his 21 st win of the season of the that's the most nft major leagues. the nats magic number -- lead remains four games because the braves also won last night. some the world's top golfers are in chicago this weekend for the ryder cup. the tournament takes place every two years and pits the united states against europe. the europeans won two years ago.

this year's event takes place at medinah country club. you can catch it right here on nbc 4 tomorrow morning starting at 9:00. 6:21 is our time on this friday morning. want to get a look at the forecast. >> the last of the rain moving out of here. in fact, out of anne arundel county. as that rain ends and our sky starts to clear with a very light wind and still a high moisture in the air, we're starting to see fog form. we're at 67 degrees right now. reagan national airport. take a look at the bus stop forecast. this will be around 7:00 a.m. sun's up at 7:02. still some fog, patchy fog. a lot of locations, but it's really dense to our south and evident wi west, the areas that pick up heavy rain. that fog should start lifting around 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. the last of the rain making its way on out of here. as far as temperatures and bili it. lowest around culpeper and charlottesville south and west. fog advisory to our south and west.

high today, 81. weekend looking nice with highs in the low 70s. i'm tracking breaking news on the roadway. the dulles toll road past wiehle avenue all of your lanes blocked on the access road because of a car fire. you're going to have to jump on the toll road. also, traveling the outer'l loo of the beltway looking like a six mile backup. as you get closer to connecticut avenue, another accident just happening now, blocking at least one of your lanes. want to show you how slow you're going from new hampshire avenue. this much volume to connecticut avenue. if you have to take the outer loop of the beltway, may be best to work your way around the local roads to come closer to connecticut avenue to get by the accident there. it is really slow this morning. still checking on the rails. eight-minute delay. brunswick east 890. aaron and eun, back over to you. 65 degrees. new york city's next tourist destination. the record setting edition that will offer amazing views.

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wow, take a look at that video. this is from the dash cam of a louisville, kentucky police officer responding to an emergency. watch what happens when the officer swerves to avoid a pickup truck at an intersection. the officer loses control and, bam, right into that house. at the time of the crash, the officer was going about 45 miles an hour. luckily, the police officer only had a minor neck injury. no one in the house was hurt. the big apple is adding to its reputation. the world's biggest ferris wheel is being built on stat enisland. the $230 million attraction will be called the new york wheel. it will overlook the statue of liberty, new york harbor, and the downtown manhattan skyline. the wheel would have 36 capsules capable of carrying 40 people each. the 625-foot tall structure would swing higher than the singapore flier, the london eye,

and a high roller planned in las vegas. i don't know. the views would be gorgeous, but i might be a little scared to get up there. >> i'm with you. i'm not a roller coaster person either. this would not be on my list of things to do. >> typically, i like ferris wheels. but that's a little crowded with 40 people. >> imagine if it got stuck. ahead, how some educators could make an extra $20,000.

aik kennedy center

controversy, questions over honorees. >> good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. rain is finally on its way out. veronica johnson is live on the storm team 4 weather deck. is it raining out there, veronica? it is not raining out here. the only drops are the drops from the canopy of the tree i'm standing under and the wet weather deck. big puddles await you when you step outside. wet roadways too, as danella sealock will tell you. temperature-wise, it's pretty comfortable. the wind is light, and that's what's actually lending itself to fog. as we head over to clinton, maryland, 65 around prince george's county and around camp springs. good morning to you folks over in burke. you're at 63. montgomery county 64 degrees right now. there's that rain. it is out of here east of baltimore. and annapolis, maryland, right now, it continues to head off toward middletown up in areas of eastern maryland right now. until 10:00 a.m., there's a

dense fog advisory again. that's what we're talking about for the next couple of hours. fog in fauquier county on west. the visibility there is down to about a half mile and below as you head toward areas of charlottesville. 7:00 a.m. fog, 8:00 a.m. fog. it will start to lift. a mixture of clouds and sunshine today. another mild day for us. this will be the last one for a while when i think we're going to get up to 80 degrees. 81 our high temperature for today. breaks in the cloud cover and then a chance of showers and even a few storms across southern maryland. after, i think, 3:00 today. danella? >> veronica, i'm checking breaking news on the road. as you make your way eastbound on the dulles toll road. all your lanes are blocked. actually, eastbound on the access road. the access lanes are blocked. this is past wiehle avenue. taking the toll road, your left lane is blocked by emergency response workers taking care of this car fire. blocking all the eastbound lanes on the access road. also, let's head over to wisconsin avenue southbound at

western avenue. accident there involves a bicyclist struck. still waiting on police to come to the scene. right now southbound wisconsin avenue, all those southbound lanes are blocked. you'll be forced to make a right or left onto western avenue. still checking on the situation outer loop of the beltway. that earlier accident clear at connecticut avenue. still facing about a six-mile backup. still looking at new hampshire avenue jammed here. at i-95, that's where you're first starting to hit the brakes. it's steady volume as you make your way toward connecticut avenue. this morning a national organization feels the kennedy center honors may be ignoring minority groups. the program recognizes artists annually for excellence in their field. the national hispanic foundation for the arts says latinos are being overlooked by the federally funded program. the organization's president says he contacted kennedy center president michael kaiser and got a harsh reaction.

>> he used profanity and hung up the phone, hoping, i guess, the problem would go away. >> kaiser would not speak to news 4 about the conversation, but he told "the washington post" he regretted using such strong language. when asked if the honoree selection process would change, a kennedy center spokesperson said the concerns would be given serious consideration. this year's awards show is scheduled for sometime in december. this morning we're hearing from the family of a d.c. woman whose body was found six years after she disappeared. katherine bryant's remains were found in stafford county, virginia, last month. a truck driver spotted them in a wooded area near the northbound 140 ramp off of i-95. the 33-year-old was a mother of three girls. her family reported her missing in july of 2006 after she was last seen in d.c. they say they were devastated. >> my heart aches. i feel like a piece of my life is gone. and it can never be replaced. police say they suspect foul play in her death but have not

said how she died. starting today, d.c. police will relaunch their breath alcohol test after a two-year hiatus. trained officers will use new calibrated meters to test drivers' blood alcohol content. the medical examiner's office will maintain that new equipment. d.c. police stopped using this program two years ago when a contractor found the machines were not working properly. on top of the new meters, officers will still continue to do the standard field sobriety tests. today d.c. mayor vincent gray will help unveil plans for the new ballous senior high school. the new $120 million school will be built on the site of the current school. the entire project is expected to be finished by 2015. the new plan will grant raises to d.c. principals and assistant principals based on their performance. that's according to "the washington post." school leaders could get up to $5,000 based on how they score on annual evaluations. those working in the district's lowest performing schools could get up to a $20,000 raise. the performance raises expand

the merit pay system now in place for d.c. teachers. a warning for fairfax city residents this morning. a fox captured in the city tested positive for rabies. someone called animal control after finding the sick animal lying in his driveway. there are no reports of anyone coming into contact with it, but police are using this as a reminder to stay away from stray dogs and other wildlife. it is 6:36 now on this friday morning. one thing you never expect in vegas, a refund. plus the facial hair flap inside d.c.'s fire department.

all right. wrap your brain around this one. nasa scientists are sharing more findings from the curiosity rover mission to mars. they found evidence of a stream that ran across the area that is under exploration. the evidence comes in the form of i am images of rocks that contain ancient stream gravel. this is the first time scientists have seen evidence. so far they've been able to figure out the water moved about three feet her second and the depth was somewhere between ankle l and hip deep. >> so cool. >> they can find out a lot without having to actually go there. >> they're going to find out there were little martians too. 6:41. time for weather and traffic. storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson. >> it is cool. science is always cool. and the fact we've got fog out.

what makes fog form? the clear sky and calm winds. it is pretty calm right now. the rain has moved out. a lot of moisture. that's the area that had the heavy rain. dense fog advisory for fauquier county, spotsylvania county, and off to the west in albemarle county. we're at 63 in fairfax and reston. areas around calvert, 63. franconia, your hometown forecast. 7:00 a.m., still cloud cover around the area. 68 degrees around 7:00. low 70s, some sunshine around noon. after 3:00 today, when you really want to keep an eye on the sky, especially areas south of d.c. around southern maryland over toward rappahannock again, the same areas that had the heavy rain yesterday. 81 with a 40% chance of rain for today. your seven day forecast coming up in a couple of minutes. right now first 4 traffic.

>> thanks, veronica. right now tracking breaking news on the roadway. if you're traveling the dulles access road eastbound, still seeing all the eastbound lanes of the access road blocked because of a car fire. you're going to have to jump on the toll road. and on the toll road -- and this is also at wiehle avenue. on the toll road at wiehle avenue, hit by a worker. a truck has hit a cyclist southbound wisconsin avenue at seventh avenue. tony tull is on the scene and reports that southbound wisconsin avenue, your lanes are blocked all of them. now they're blocking eastbound lanes on western avenue. this is as you're taking western avenue and making your way towards military road. those lanes are blocked at the intersection of wisconsin avenue. and also traveling i-95, just sluggish for you. not so bad past lore done. after you drive past lorton, heavy on the brakes as you head to the beltway.

delays out of dale city. new this morning, d.c. police investigating a deadly stabbing along 50th place in northeast. they say a man was stabbed in the chest around 11:15 last night. he died on the scene. so far police have made no arrests and have not released a motive in this case. d.c. police and fire officials are trying to figure out who defaced a picture of the fire chief. someone drew a mustache on fire chief kenneth ellerbe and put the picture upside down. police came and dusted for fingerprints and even filed an official report. an audio threatening criminal charges was found. >> the reason i asked who handle the picture is because there are going to be some charges. at that point whatever the fire chief decides. you'll be at his mercy. >> news 4 talked to ellerbe over

the mustache situation. he said he considers the case closed and the fire department has more pressing issues to deal with. president obama leads mitt romney by seven points in new hampshire, according to the latest nbc news/"the wall street journal"/marist poll. the president also has a 2% lead in the battleground states of nevada and north carolina. that's within the poll's margin of error, which is 3.1%. president obama will stay in the district. he has three campaign events scheduled in d.c. the president campaigned yesterday in virginia. he told supporters in virginia beach it could take a few more years for the economy to recover. mitt romney was also in virginia yesterday. he met with veterans and their families in springfield. the republican presidential nominee trails the president in virginia in recent polls. he hopes next week's first presidential debate will give him some momentum going forward. >> you don't have a great opportunity with debates to talk about my vision for the country. the president will talk about

his. those that believe we want more government, more intrusive government, trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see will vote for him. those that believe we should encourage economic growth, support small business, and create more jobs will vote for me. >> the republican presidential nominee will focus on fund-raising tonight. he hopes to bring in $7.5 million for his campaign at two events in the boston area. both candidates will likely speak to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu today although neither will meet with him face to face. president obama and mitt romney expected to call netanyahu, who is in the united states right now. the president has been criticized for not meeting with the israeli prime minister. yesterday, though, secretary of state hillary clinton did sit down with netanyahu in new york. netanyahu also addressed the united nations general assembly. he warned the world may only have until next summer to stop iran. if these are the facts -- and they are -- where should a

red line be drawn? a red line should be drawn right here. >> the white house reiterated its commitment to stopping iran from building a nuclear bomb. nfl referees are back on the job. the real refs received a standing ovation when they took the field before last night's ravens-bengals game in baltimore. the honeymoon was short-lived. the crowd quickly booed and the hometown ravens were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. this is the first game since the nfl and referees union reached a tentative agreement on a labor contract. nfl commissioner roger goodell apologized to fans for the lockout. >> we're sorry to have to bring our fans through that. we're sorry to bring the general public through that. that's unfortunately part of labor management disputes. >> the referees union plans on

voting today and tomorrow on the labor deal. and this will give you a sense of just how controversial those refs were. one las vegas sports book is offering refunds to customers who bet on monday night's packers-seahawks game. the seahawks won on a touchdown call in the final play of the game. the casino owner calls it a unique situation and this was the right thing to do for its customers. a texas man has pleaded guilty for trying to extort money from robert griffin iii. hurd contacted rg3's agents saying he had information that could damage the qb's reputation. he demanded $1 million for his silence. the agents called police, who arrested hurd. hurd pled guilty and will be sentenced in november. a virginia man is expected of killing a new york school superintendent. 42-year-old anthony taglianetti killed a school superintendent

outside of buffalo last week. they say he drove to new york to kill him and is now believed to be back in the virginia area. police say the two knew each other but would not release a possible motive for the attack. he is considered armed and dangerous. 6:48. the wife of a man who was brutally attacked near eastern market is speaking out about the incident. three man attacked thomas maslin last month on north carolina avenue southeast, robbing him of his iphone and some cash. later that night, the trio robbed three other people, but police caught and arrested them for those robberies. police found four phones when they arrested the men. one of those phones belonged to maslin, but only a few days ago police connected them to the attack. >> i want people to know that they have a social responsibility in these situations. if they see something, i don't care if they're not sure what the situation is. it is so much better to say something and to be sure that you have told the people, the appropriate people. >> police say they tried to track maslin's phone after the

attack, but the battery was dead. maslin is still in the hospital recovering from brain injuries. this morning d.c. police are looking for two people who tried to rob a downtown sandwich shop. one man is already in custody. the trio tried to rob the restaurant on "l" street. a gun went off, but no one was shot. that's when all three took off running. you can like, you can friend, and now you can send. facebook is adding a new feature. cnbc's bertha coombs is live with that. you knew they had to come up with something pretty soon here. >> it's another way for them to make a little bit of cash. remember way back when, you used to be able to send like a virtual rose to somebody for their birthday. now facebook is making it real. the social networking site is launching a feature to let users send actual gifts like chocolate, coffee, and bouquets of flowers to their friends. the facebook gifts program being rolled out gradually here in the u.s. a gift icon will show up on your friend's timeline, which they

can unwrap virtually, and they get the actual gift on their doorstep a few days later. it's facebook's first major push into e-commerce. they'll get a cut from each item sold. i know i saw them advertising that starbucks would be among the first participating in that program. meantime, while americans are still going to college, many are opting to stop their education after four years. a report shows that new enrollment in grad school has dropped for the second straight year. that follows a surge in 2008 and 2009 as some unemployed workers sought refuge from the recession with more education. experts say students are dissuaded right now from continuing school, in part from the increased amount of debt that so many have already taken during their undergrad years. with state budget cuts forcing schools to reduce financial aid for students, it causes some to weigh whether it's worth spending the extra amount on education. it's a tough thing, guys. have a great weekend.

>> bertha coombs, thank you. have a great weekend too. >> veronica and i were saying, we don't like virtual presents. we want presents delivered to us personally. >> the real deal. >> hand delivered, beautifully wrapped. >> all of the above. >> you keep waiting. >> we don't have to wait are info for the forecast, though, veronica. >> no. we've gone from the rain and the fog. it's kind of a droopy morning. it's cloudy and gray. there's the big puddles. even the big drops from the canopy of the trees. here's a look at visibility. culpeper down to .3 mile. one of our weather watchers in rappahannock reporting .1 mile visibility. from the rains last night, right there, he said he had over two inches of rain. it's this area here where the fog is the worst. down to .5 mile in manassas, virginia. gaithersburg down to under a mile. could drop for the next hour, hour and a half before we see

improvements. gray and foggy morning, 62 to 68. pretty comfortable with the short sleeves. here's what's going to happen today. the front will come into the area and trigger more showers and storms, i think after 3:00 today. the main area, southern maryland today. the weekend, though, pretty nice. we'll get the sunshine tomorrow and nice pretty skies. that front moves on. then it's a little area of low pressure that could give us a shower, a brief shower, i think, on sunday. both days in the low 70s. today is going to be nice and mild. 75 to 81 degrees. again, some isolated storms possible just down to our south with a mixture of clouds and sunshine for the day. it's the late afternoon and evening. we still could be wet up until about midnight. 62 to 73. here's a look at your four-day forecast. not too bad. just a 30% chance on sunday of a passing shower. early part of the next week, low 70s. danella? >> thanks, veronica. right now still checking on breaking news on the roadway. if you're taking eastbound dulles access road, this is past

wiehle avenue. had a car fire there. all those eastbound lanes have opened up. that accident is clear. also checking on right now as you make your way eastbound 32, trying to go southbound on telegraph road, the ramp there completely blocked because of debris in the roadway. and still looking on the situation along wisconsin avenue in the district, as you make your way wisconsin avenue at western avenue, a cyclist has been struck. southbound wisconsin avenue, those lanes are blocked as well as heading eastbound on western avenue. and delays, if you're traveling the outer loop of the beltway, let's check travel speed. from i-95 you're slow, about 19 miles per hour to get from i-270, it will take you about a half hour right now. aaron, over to you. >> thank you, danella. 6:53 now. the government says traffic deaths are at a record high. the national highway traffic safety administration says there is a 9% increase in traffic deaths for the first half of this year. that is the largest jump during the first six months of any previous year. a projection from january through june estimates more than

16,000 people died in car crashes this year. the previous highest increase during the first half of the year was 6.4%. that was in 1979. if you're planning on taking metro this weekend, expect delays. starting tonight, crews will be working on track improvements on 4 of the 5 lines. buses will replace trains on the green line from southern avenue to branch avenue. the same goes on the orange line from the vienna through east falls church station. trains will be singing trale tr on the red and yellow lines as well. all expected to wrap up in time for monday morning's commute. smithsonian magazine wants you to check out the world's great museums for free. hundreds of museums all across the country will be free tomorrow, including here in our area. you just need a ticket you can find online. for information on where to find it, head over to our facebook page for "news 4 today." a painting a virginia woman bought at a flea market is the focus of an fbi investigation.

french impressionist painter francois renoir painted the piece. turns out it may have been stolen from a boston museum in 1991. it's estimated to be worth between $75,000 and $100,000. she was planning to sell it at auction tomorrow. but that auction is now cancelled. melissa mollet live at the news desk. >> firblofficials say they won' complain to britain's watchdog about naked pictures of prince harry partying in las vegas. the photos appeared online. a complaint, they say, would be a distraction from harry's deployment in afghanistan. at the news desk, melissa mollet, news 4. >> utout the door forecast with miss veronica. it's a foggy morning. a little gray with clouds around. a little bit of sunshine, especially during the mid part of the day. clouds back, rain back after 3:00. toasty, again, 81.

and the weekend a little toasty. it's just a mess on the roads. it's friday, but you are slow. a live look at 395 northbound. clear as far as accidents go. you're slow to the 14th street bridge. your travel speed about 31 miles an hour. that trip from the beltway to the 14th street bridge will take 21 minutes. aaron and eun? >> thank you, danella. our thanks to veronica for helping out this week. >> love having you. >> and that is "news 4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next. [ male announcer ] for the dreamers...

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